Historic portrait of a Hernan Cortes dressed in ornate armor, holding a staff, with a coat of arms and text in Spanish above.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador (1485–1547)

Led soldiers who would defeat the Aztec Empire in 1521. Became the Marqués of the Valley of Oaxaca in 1529.

A decorative folding screen featuring a detailed painting of people at a social gathering, with a second framed artwork of a religious or mythological scene on the wall nearby, in a room with pink walls and antique furniture.

Focus on one of the only surviving portraits of the conquistador who led the conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1521. This 1529 portrait shows Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conquistador who played a central role in the fall of the Aztec Empire.

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